The Spoils System

There are nearly 20 million people that are employed by the government in various positions in the United States of America and with just as many varying ways of implementing bureaucracy and appointing individuals to hold public administration positions. Managing the appointments of all of these public officials under one umbrella of how to properly perform governmental tasks is not an easy feat. The only way for America to accomplish what the electorate has set out for them to do is for public administrators to agree on core principles and values, and like history these values are always evolving. “Although we think in terms of institutions and principles, in the final analysis, organizations and governments are not charts and words on pieces

“By the late 1870s, the rising industrialists and proponents of industrialization had become opposed to patronage politics because the corruption was harming international commerce”(Rosenbloom 204) The corruption that ran rampant during the spoils was starting to cut into the pocket books of business owners and money is usually want moves progress along in America. The spoils system and the use of patronage officially fell out of use when the Supreme Court made such methods unconstitutional, from there the Era of the “Merit” system was born. Although it takes the title of “merit” this system was very inadequate. This new “merit” system relied on administrative examinations that were ineffective on predicting on-the-job effectiveness and was extremely biased against applicants who belonged to minority groups. The institution of merit system was a way of pushing out the corrupt thugs brought in during the Spoils Era and bringing in new ways to pick federal administrative positions. The “merit” system had its drawbacks but these new methods included the selection of employees based on examination scores, depoliticization of public service, a longer tenure in office was reinstated, and an outside committee called the Civil Service Commission would review and police the actions of public administrators to ensure ethics and eliminate

There is little rotation in office and those who hold office are not necessarily representative of their constituents or their interest. The system currently in place has become steeped in legalese and has become too ridged to be effective but those who are proponents of the system see no problem with its inefficacy. “We consider that fixed rules, however imperfect, are better than arbitrary power.”(Rosenbloom 209) I believe that mix of all three systems would be the best way to handle the imperfections that are seen in the current system. We can take from the Era of Gentlemen a need for a high standard of ethics and overall honor of the position but leave behind the elitism. We can adopt from the Era of the Spoils System rotating tenures that don’t have ineffective public officials in office for decades but leave behind the politicking and scandal. If we were to implement pieces of all three systems were would have a much more effective public officials in office who hold the public’s interest above the ever changing interest of